I am releasing publicly the coordinates of my home planet and colony Mud. It will be open for anyone to visit or stay awhile. Check other sections of the forum for more information. - Ernal
I read the details, and not allowing personal defenses? Why should I trust your guard in the event of a raid, or people who refuse your laws? -H.A.
Appreciate your concern. Security is a big part of what makes a peaceful colony, and I believe that giving the power of security to the people causes many more consequences than trusting the assigned guard. Guards on Mud have functioned for thirty years against threats of all types. If you need personal defense, tasers and blunt weapons are completely fine with me. Always willing to take suggestions, though, so if you have any, it would also be appreciated. - Ernal
From a security perspective, a colony has three sorts of people: lawfuls, criminals, and terrorists. Lawfuls may commit the odd misdemeanor here or there, but they are the people your security is designed to protect. Criminals are citizens who decide to break the law, knowing full well what it is. These are what your current security scheme is able to protect against. Terrorists don't care about your laws. They will come down, and actively do whatever they feel like. When a guard asks them to lower their weapons, they open fire. When a lawful gives a wayward glace, they open fire. Your security is not capable of preventing this threat, especially if they represent a larger number than your guard. Meanwhile in Upside, everyone and their baby have a gun. A terrorist acts, and you have five people at any given time ready to open fire. Your lawfuls bulk your security force, and help protect eachother. The downsides of this? Well the perception of your settlement is more violent, but in reality it is simply dangerous to act outside the interest of the people. In the frontier, that is what matters. This mimicry of civil territory that you are modeling after has no place out here, and should you follow it I can only hope circumstance brings copper jacketed humility to your doorstep. -H.A.
Don't need to treat me like a fool. I have been on Upside. I've seen how that 'functions'. For every dispute there's a shootout, and the 'terrorists' are always met at the beampad with force, always ending in much more bloodshed than is necessary. Speaking in public on Upside has, in the past, caused members of the town to consider murder preemptively in the name of 'safety'. We have built the beampad of Mud to be able to be locked down immediately at sign of danger, and since it isn't quite built in the population center, chance of hazard is lessened massively. Classic military strategy is to starve them out. The brick walls are four feet thick. If the 'terrorists' are willing to blow their way out with explosives, or something similarly devastating, there wouldn't have been much we could do in the first place. Mud isn't worth the trouble, I don't think. Important to be modest. - Ernal
